A current survey by Gartner found that advertising and marketing groups are utilizing 33% of their advertising and marketing tech stack’s full capabilities. This has a direct affect on the success of your charity’s mission.
Past simply advertising and marketing, know-how has change into a cornerstone of organizational success. It empowers your charity to function successfully, interact stakeholders, volunteers, and fundraisers effectively, and in the end maximizes the affect of your trigger.
The variety of know-how options obtainable for charitable organizations has grown exponentially lately. Navigating the more and more advanced technological panorama is proving to be a major problem.
From advertising and marketing automation and fundraising platforms to CRMs and reporting instruments, you may have every part you want for achievement, however provided that you utilize it effectively. Sprawling, disconnected stacks have gotten the norm as groups proliferate know-how options to satisfy their wants. A very profitable charity must create a streamlined and interconnected know-how stack to scale back waste and enhance affect.
Why is a streamlined charity tech stack essential?
Earlier than we start, let’s have a look at what a tech stack is.
A know-how stack (tech stack) is a set of software program options, programming languages, frameworks, and instruments that work collectively to construct digital functions (like apps or web sites) and providers.
In your charity, constructing a robust and environment friendly tech stack is important for attaining your mission. A streamlined tech stack means that you can optimize your operations, enhance inter-departmental productiveness, and attain your mission-driven targets.
By fastidiously constructing your good charity tech stack, you’ll instantly get pleasure from a variety of advantages, together with:
- Improved effectivity: A well-designed tech stack empowers groups to automate or streamline repetitive duties, permitting them to focus their sources on delivering mission-impacting providers.
- Enhanced communication and collaboration: Facilitate efficient communication amongst employees, volunteers, donors, and stakeholders utilizing streamlined tech for a stronger group of workers and supporters.
- Expanded attain and affect: Unified tech stacks will let you leverage digital advertising and marketing, social media, and fundraising platforms, ensuing within the amplification of your message and mission.
Understanding your tech stack wants
Regardless of the quite a few advantages of streamlining and modernizing tech stacks, charities face vital challenges in attaining this objective. Monetary hurdles specifically disrupt your group’s means to spend money on the precise tech.
With that in thoughts, you might want to have a transparent understanding of your charity’s distinctive wants when buying new tech. Contemplate elements together with:
- Your mission and providers: What causes do you assist? What providers do you might want to present? What know-how goes that can assist you obtain this?
- Donor and volunteer base: Who’re your present and potential donors? Are they completely different out of your volunteers? How do all these supporters desire to interact?
- Staff measurement and skillset: What number of completely different groups make up your group? What tech do they should obtain their targets? What are their technical capabilities?
- Funds: How a lot are you able to realistically spend money on all know-how?
Important parts of a charity tech stack
Having a robust understanding of your wants will aid you determine the precise instruments. Let’s check out the important parts you might want to construct the right tech stack.
Fundraising and donor administration (CRM)
A strong CRM like Salesforce, Donorfy, StratusLIVE, and Raiser’s Edge is essential. It centralizes donor data, tracks interactions, and facilitates focused communication for sturdy relationships.
Key options to search for embody:
- Segmentation and donor profiling to allow goal fundraising campaigns
- Integration with electronic mail advertising and marketing and fundraising platforms
- Recurring donation administration
- Main donor administration
- Occasion administration capabilities
- Grant administration
Web site and content material administration system (CMS)
A user-friendly CMS like WordPress or Drupal means that you can make straightforward web site updates and content material creation, showcasing your mission and affect tales. Your CMS ought to aid you create a transparent and accessible on-line presence to your charity.
Key options of a robust CMS embody:
- Person-friendly interface for fast and simple updates
- Cell website optimization
- Integration with donation platforms
- search engine optimisation capabilities
- Type integration
- Accessibility options
- Ecommerce performance (for merchandise gross sales)
Advertising automation
Charity advertising and marketing groups typically must run with restricted sources. That’s what makes advertising and marketing automation instruments a significant and central a part of your tech stack. Automation instruments like Dotdigital assist your advertising and marketing groups construct electronic mail campaigns, ship personalised messages to donors, and nurture leads. These platforms additionally present worthwhile analytics to optimize campaigns.
Key options to search for:
- E mail templates and personalization
- SMS template and personalization
- Automation workflows (e.g. welcome sequence, donation ‘thanks’ emails, volunteer onboarding)
- Testing
- Integrations, API, and webhooks
Volunteer administration instruments
Retaining volunteers engaged is important and volunteer administration instruments can give you new, digital methods to remain related. From constructing occasion registration types to dealing with scheduling, volunteer administration instruments will help you streamline communication to remain related with and retain your volunteers.
Instruments like VolunteerMatch, SignUpGenius, and VolunteerHub embody options together with:
- Volunteer utility and screening
- Shift scheduling and administration
- Time monitoring and reporting
- Volunteer recognition instruments
Challenge administration and collaboration
Cross-team collaboration empowers your charity to succeed in new heights. Utilizing collaboration instruments akin to Asana, Basecamp, or Slack will assist your inner groups, volunteers, and group companions work along with elevated productiveness and streamlined challenge administration.
Key options to think about in a challenge administration instrument:
- Activity administration and project
- File sharing and doc administration
- Communication instruments (chat, video conferencing)
- Challenge timelines and milestones
Analytics and reporting
Analytics and reporting instruments give charities the dear means to research information and use it to guage marketing campaign efficiency and inform future choices. Instruments like GA4 or nonprofit-specific platforms like Fathom present information insights on web site site visitors, advertising and marketing marketing campaign efficiency, and donor engagement. This information can inform strategic decision-making.
Key options to search for:
- Web site analytics
- E mail advertising and marketing analytics
- Fundraising efficiency metrics
- Social media analytics
Cost gateway and fundraising software program
Safe and dependable platforms like Paypal or Stripe allow secure on-line donations through your web site or cell app and fundraising software program can increase fundraising efforts. The perfect fee instruments present donors with a easy and safe donation expertise and provides your charity essential information to serve their fundraising wants.
When choosing fee instruments, contemplate:
- Integration with web site and CRM
- Recurring fee choices
- Cell fee acceptance
- Fraud prevention
High suggestions for constructing your charity tech stack
1. Integration is vital
A disconnected tech stack results in inefficiencies, siloes, and a scarcity of cross-team cohesion. Guarantee your instruments work collectively seamlessly to create a unified system. By breaking down information silos, you’ll achieve a whole image of your donors, volunteers, and operations, resulting in extra environment friendly workflows and knowledgeable decision-making. Moreover, a well-integrated tech stack can improve the donor expertise by offering a constant and personalised journey throughout all touchpoints.
2. Open supply vs. paid software program
Weighing the professionals and cons of open-source and paid software program is important. Open-source options (sometimes free and community-driven software program) could be cost-effective, however they typically require technical experience for implementation and upkeep. Alternatively, paid software program sometimes affords extra options, assist, and safety, however comes with a price ticket. Contemplate your group’s technical capabilities and price range when making a alternative.
3. Concentrate on person expertise
Your good tech stack will empower, not frustrate. Make sure you’re selecting instruments which can be intuitive for each your employees and the individuals you serve. Search for AI options that can assist streamline group efforts. A constructive person expertise will increase productiveness, enhance donor satisfaction, and strengthen volunteer engagement.
4. Prioritize scalability
Your charity will develop and evolve as you unfold the phrase about your mission. Choose know-how that may develop and adapt to your altering wants. Options like webhooks and well-communicated roadmaps are very important to find when buying new tech. Plus, a scalable tech stack will stop pricey overhauls and guarantee your instruments proceed to assist your mission as your group expands.
Streamline your charity tech stack with Dotdigital
Within the dynamic world of charity advertising and marketing, a fragmented tech stack can hinder your means to maximise affect and obtain your mission. To really join with donors, volunteers, and supporters, you want a unified method that brings collectively information, automation, and personalization.
Dotdigital affords a strong answer. As a central hub to your advertising and marketing efforts, our platform integrates seamlessly along with your present instruments to create a cohesive ecosystem. By streamlining your workflows, delivering focused campaigns, and gaining deeper insights into donor conduct, you’ll be able to construct stronger relationships, enhance fundraising effectivity, and drive significant change.
Let Dotdigital be your accomplice in making a extra impactful future to your charity.
